A Spiritual Scoop on Things: saudi arabia

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

THE CRIME OF SILENCE

" The darkest places in hell

Are reserved for those

Who maintain their neutrality

In times of moral crisis "

Now, I can't confirm whether or not the above quote from Dante Alighieri's epic 14th century poem the Divine Comedy is part of the myriad of tattoos that form Syed Ammar Nakshawani's forearms these days, but I'm sure you'll agree it's quite a powerful saying that resonates with the message of Karbala.

If there's one thing we can take away from Imam Hussain's (as) supreme sacrifice, it's to not remain neutral when we see injustice being committed in front of us.

Indeed the very essence of Imam Hussain's (as) mission is that through his death, he showed the world how to take a stand against falsehood in any shape or form, no matter how imposing the odds.

Through his death, he showed the world how to take a stand against wrong in any shape or form, no matter how imposing the odds. - See more at: http://charlatan.ca/2013/11/letter-hussain-belongs-to-everyone/#sthash.L57RrlcX.dpuf

But then the question remains - how does one stand up to injustice and practice activism?

The Prophet (saaw) gives the answer to that question in a short, yet beautiful saying. He essentially outlines three courses of action we can take when we see falsehood in front of our eyes.

"If you see something wrong, change it with your hands. If you are not able to, then speak out against it. If you are not able to do that, then feel bad about it in your heart - but that is the weakest form of faith."

I speak to myself first when I say that more often than, we find ourselves languishing in that third category, the stage the Prophet (saaw) calls the 'weakest form of faith'. We see something wrong in front of us but instead of actually doing something about it, we make 101 excuses not to act. Instead we pacify ourselves by feeling rotten and assuring out conscience that we personally are far away from such acts.

Of course, it's not always practical to take action and 'change it with your hands,' but that second stage the Prophet (saaw) mentions is almost always a viable option. The second stage, 'speaking out,' doesn't mean standing in the middle of the street and yelling into a megaphone.

Take the example of Saudi Arabia's Sheikh Nimr and his recent death sentence. It probably wouldn't have been practical for most of us to jump onto the next flight to Saudi Arabia and pull-off a daring rescue mission. But we did Tweet, sign petitions and make noise. The absolute least we could have done was 'feel bad about it'.

The point is to strive to do the utmost that is possible under the circumstances - you be the judge and draw the line yourself.

As lovers of Imam Hussain (as), we should feel a burning itch to do something the moment we hear about any kind of injustice. Paraphrasing Dante's words, there is indeed nothing worse than taking the course of inaction in times of moral crisis.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

YAUM AL GHAM (the Day of Sorrow)

There is a mosque in Cairo where some believe the head of Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third of the Shia Imams, is buried. While these narrations are not authentic, there is still a great deal of reverence given to that place of worship by both Sunnis and Shias.

A few years ago there was talk from an extremist Salafist group to bring down the shrine in Cairo, saying that to venerate a monument in that manner was akin to polytheism.

Al Azhar University, the biggest Sunni seminary in the world, spoke out strongly and said that if so much as a finger was laid on that mosque, there would be dire consequences.

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Simply put, Jannatul Baqi is a cemetery in Saudi Arabia. But it wasn't always a barren graveyard. Not more than 88 years ago, a mosque unparalleled in its beauty and grandeur stood over the graves of the many sacred personalities buried there.

Yaum al Gham (the Day of Sorrow) is the day true Muslims around the world remember when that grand mausoleum was reduced to sand and rocks.

A section of Baqi today

Here are the ‘5 W’s’ of the Day of Sorrow

WHO - Spurred by venomous Wahabi (also called Salafist or Takfiri) ideologies, Saudi Arabia's king at the time, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, ordered the demolition of Jannatul Baqi.

WHAT - A stunning mausoleum in Saudi Arabia that housed the tombs of figures in Islamic history revered by both Sunnis and Shias was razed to the ground by bulldozers.

Four of the personalities buried there are those whom Shia Muslims regard as their Imams - the rightfully chosen successors to the Prophet Muhammad. One of those four is Muhammad’s other grandson, Hassan, who is Hussain’s older brother. The other three are descendants of Hussain.

Many other figures, including the Prophet's relatives, companions, and wives, which are revered by all Muslims around the world are also buried in Baqi.

The rest of the Shia Imams, numbering twelve in total, the twelfth of whom is believed to be occultation, are buried in grand mausoleums of gold in Iraq and Iran. All year round, millions of Shias from all parts of the world visit these shrines to pay their respects.

WHEN – The Baqi shrine was demolished on 21 April, 1925. The Islamic date was 8 Shawwal 1345.

WHERE – Medina, Saudi Arabia. The graveyard of Baqi is located a stone's throw away from the green-domed Masjid Nabawi, one of Islam's most sacred mosques and the resting place of the Prophet Muhammad.

WHY- Among many things, Wahabis condemn grave veneration of any sort. Wahabism is a recently founded ultraconservative branch of Islam, criticized by mainstream Muslims both Sunni and Shia.

They say that history repeats itself and today, the holiest sites in Islam are still under attack.

The mausoleum of Hussain - Karbala, Iraq

In 2006 and 2007, the golden domed mausoleums of the tenth and eleventh Shia Imams in Sammara, Iraq were attacked in a bomb blast.

With Wahabism the dominant form of Islam in Saudi Arabia today, talks are rife to destroy many more of Islam's holiest sites - including Masjid Nabawi.